Shuttle check and lock for looms.



No. 820,664. PATENTBD MAY 15, 1906.

FLA. MILLS. SHUTTLE CHECK AND LOOK FOR LODMS.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 26, 1904.

a. a fix 7; I I w I 74 I 7? J l \l J Witnesses aktozuws UNITED srArns PATENT orrron.

FRANCIS ARTHUR MILLS, OF LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GROSVENOR B. EMMONS, OF METHUEN, MASSA- CHUSETTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Fatented lVEay 15, 1906.

7 Application filed July 26. 1904 Serial No. 218,263

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANcIs ARTHUR MILLS, a citizen of the United States, residing at 251 South Broadway, Lawrence, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shuttle Checks and Looks for Looms; and I do hereby declare the following to be-a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

' My present invention has for its object the production of eflective adjustable means for providing for the stretch of the impact-strap and wear of the picker and other parts of the shuttle checking and locking device for stopping the shuttle of a loom at a predetermined position in the shuttle-box and in which the impact of the shuttle upon the picker is employed through the medium of an impactstrap being connected to a lever device to actuate the binder to lock the shuttle at a predetermined position in the shuttle-box.

In the operation of a loom when the shuttle strikes the binder the latter is thrown out ward, and if the loom is running at high speed the shuttle will often hit the picker before the binder can return to properly engage, and hold the shuttle, and frequently the latter rebounds after its impact with the picker. To avoid this rebound and stop the shuttle at a predetermined point, I have provided a combination of means governed by the impact of the shuttle upon the picker and means for adjusting said strap to render certain and uniform the ressure of the binder upon the shuttle and to instantly return and press the binder firmly against the shuttle before the'latter can rebound.

For carrying out my improvement of rendering it certain to stop the shuttle at a predetermined point in the shuttle-box I have illustrated my said improvement as applied to the shuttle-checking means shown, described, and claimed in a patent granted to Isaac Snow June 21, 1904, and numbered 763,122,.and I have shown in the accompanying drawings my improvement as applied to this patented shuttle-check because the adjustment of the impact-strap becomes an essential and important factor in maintaining the impact-strap at a uniform length and to compensate for the stretch of the strap and wear of the picker by the shuttle, for if the impact-strap stretches and the shuttle wears in the picker it will fail to stop the shuttle at a redetermined point. In this patent there is no means for effecting this object.

Referrin t0 the drawings, Figure 1 1s a rear elevation of the end of a loom-lay and shuttle-box thereon, the shuttle-actuating parts being shown at the instant the full checking action is appliedto the shuttle. Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the same, and Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 looking toward the rlght. Fig. 4 IS an elevation of the front and left end of the lay, showing means for adjusting the 1mpact strap to render the checking action effective.

In shuttle-checks in which an impact-strap is employed it will stretch and the wear of the shuttle-point into the picker Wlll without provision for adjusting the strap fall to prevent the rebound of the shuttle and to check it at a determined point in the box.

The lay A shuttle-box thereon comprising the front plate I), back wall I), and top plate 6 a binder B pivotally mounted at its outer end on the lay at b the picker P, and its stick P may be and are of usual or well-known construction.

The protector rock-shaft p, its controllingspring S, Fig. 1, and the upturned binderfinger p to bear against the free end of the binder are of well-known constructlon and operate in the usual manner.

The impact-strap 1 is suspended below the lay and passed around the p1cker-st1ck, one end of the strap bein fixed to and supported by a hanger 2, bolte to the front of the lay. The other end of the strap is formed into a loop 3, through which is extended a depend ing leg 4, forming part of a bracket 5, rigidly attached to the back of the lay, a collar 6 on the leg supporting the strap vertlcally. A second leg 7 depends from the bracket at the outer end thereof and forms a fixed abutment for and over which the rear side of the strap draws longitudinally, the abutment having a rearwardly-projectrng supportinglug 8 at its lower end on which the bottom edge of the strap rests. The legs 4 and 7 are offset rearwardly from the face of the bracket,

as shown in the drawings, so that the rear side of the strap is thereby held behind the plane of the rear side of the lay.

WVhen the shuttle S engages the picker, the picker-stick P is thrown outward and the two sides of the strap are pulled taut, as shown in Fig. 2, tending to straighten the strap between the holding-leg4and the abutment 7 with a force proportional to the impact of the shuttle upon the picker. Means are provided to draw in or slacken the rear side of the strap when the shuttle is picked from the box, and to this end a piece of spring-wire is coiled to form two spirals 9 and 10, connected by yoke 11, the leg 4 passing through the spirals with the strap-loop 3 between them.

The free end 9 of the spiral9 bears against the bracket 5 and is secured thereto by inserting it in a socket 75, Fig. 1, above the top of the leg 4, and the free end 10 of spiral 10 is pinned to the leg 4, while the yoke 11 bears against the outer face of the strap between the leg 4 and the abutment 7, as in Fig. 1. The spirals are so wound that the tendency thereof is to throw the connecting-yoke 1 1 inward, thereby acting to form a bend in the strap and draw its rear side over the abutment when the shuttle is picked.

When the strap is tightened, due to boxing the shuttle, the spring-coils are fixed and the slack taken up, tending to flatten or straighten the strap between the abutment and the leg 4. Such part of the strap has an inward and outward movement every time the shuttle leaves and enters the box, and this outward and forcible movement is utilized to press the binder against the shuttle to prevent rebound.

Two cars 12 are formed on the bracket 5, above and between the depending portions 4 and 7, and an upright lever 13 is fulcrumed between the ears on a pin 14, supported therein. At its upper end the lever is enlarged to form a head 15, which bears against the binder near its free end, while the depending end of the lever extends below the lay and is widened to form a foot 16, which crosses and rests against the outer face of the strap between the leg 4 and the abutment 7.

. As the fulcrum 14 is near the upper end of the lever and set out from the bracket, Fig. 3, the foot 16 tends to swing forward against the strap when the box is empty, the springs 9 and 10 at such time slackening and bending the strap, as has been described, and at such time the foot 16 will be well forward of a straight line passing through the leg 4 and the abutment. WVhen the incoming shuttle strikes the swell of the binder,-the free end of the latter is thrown outward, swinging the head 15 of the lever outward; but as the outward swing of the picker-stick tightens the strap 1 the latter acts instantly upon the foot of and rocks the lever as the strap is drawn more nearly straight between the leg 4 and the abutment 7. Such rocking of the lever 13 forces its head inward and quickly presses the binder against the shuttle, holding the same efiectively against any tendency to rebound from its impact with the picker. The harder the blow of the shuttle on the picker the greater will be the force acting through the strap to rock the lever 13, and thereby press the binder against the shuttle.

While I have described the impact-band having a slack bend and an abutment against which said bend acts, and springs engaging and cooperating with the band for taking up its slack at certain steps in the operation, obviously the impact-band would be ineffective to check and to maintain the shuttle at a predetermined point in the box, without means for adjusting the band to take up the slack that would result from the stretching of the strap and the wear of the picker due to theimpact of the shuttle, and my improvement resides in means whereby the band may be adjusted to the stroke of the picker-stick to stop and hold the shuttle at the desired position in the box, and also to adjust the band to take up the slack due to its stretching and to the wear of the picker from the impact of the shuttle. For this purpose that end of the strap which is fastened to the hanger 2 is provided with a slot 17, through which passes the bolt 18, that fastens the strap to the hanger and by which the strap is adjusted in .the first instance to suit the stroke of the picker-stick and to cause the shuttle to be stopped at a predetermined position in the.

box, while a slot 19 in the hanger, through which passes the bolt 20 that secured the hanger to the lay, allows the adjustment of the hanger itself to take up the slack caused by the stretching of the strap and the wear of the picker by the impact of the shuttle, and it is by these two separate and independent adjustments, or either of them, that the strap can be adjusted to the proper length and tautness for efficient work with the binder to stop and hold the shuttle at a predetermined osition in the shuttle-box. To keep the anger in true position in its horizontal adjusting movements on the lay, the box-plate has an overhanging rib 21, against the under side of which projections 22 22 on the hanger engage and keep the hanger from turning.

I claim 1. A shuttle -box, a pivoted binder, a picker-stick, a strap passed around it and fixed to its ends, a fixed abutment adjacent one of the ends of the strap, a spring to form a bend in the strap therebetween, and a lever fulcrumed adjacent to the shuttle-box and at one end cooperating with the binder, the other end of the lever crossing the bent part of the strap, tightening of the latter due to boxing of the shuttle flattening the band and rocking said lever to force the binder inward,

I thereon, the shuttle and checking mechanism and including adjustable means for the strap for causing the shuttle to be stopped at apredetermined position in said box,

2. In a loom, the lay, the shuttle box thereon, the shuttle and checkin mechanism therefor, a pivoted binder a pic er-stick, an impact-strap looped around the picker-stick, and having both ends fixed, and a lever fulcrumed on the lay connected with the binder and with the strap, in combination with means for adjusting said strap, consisting of a hanger having a slot by which it is adjusted on the lay, that end of said strap bolted to the hanger having a slot by which it is adjusted on the hanger.

3. In a loom, the lay, the shuttle-box therefor, a pivoted binder, a picker-stick, an impact-strap looped around the picker-stick and having both ends fixed, and a lever fulcrumed on the lay connected with the binder and with the strap, in combination with a hanger, means for adjusting it on the lay, and means for adjusting the strap on the hanger.

4. In a loom, the lay, the shuttle-box, the shuttle and picking mechanism therefor, and means for checking and locking the shuttle substantially as shown and described, in combination with means for taking up the strap to stop the shuttle at a predetermined position in the shuttleboX.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANCIS ARTHUR MILLS.

Witnesses:

A. E. H. JOHNSON, ANNE B. JonNsoN. 

